Czech star Petra Kvitova says it was advice from her role model (tennis legend Martina Navratilova) that helped her to win Wimbledon last year.

Speaking in an interview with Laureus.com just days before this year’s Wimbledon, Kvitova said of Navratilova: “She is a very nice person to me and I had a good chat with her at Wimbledon. She had some advice for me. She has a lot of experience in her career and she is very smart.”

When asked what Navratilova had said to her, Kvitova just smiled and said: “It’s a secret. I’m not going to tell anyone.”

And Laureus World Sports Academy Member Martina Navratilova is keeping the secret too. Asked if she had given Kvitova advice about her tennis and how to win Wimbledon, she said: “Sure, sure, I came to her before the final and said a few things. I think coming from somebody that has been there makes a big difference. You can talk all you want about psychology, but if you have not felt it yourself, how do you really know what is going on?”

Martina, also originally from the Czech Republic, was asked if she felt Kvitova could win Wimbledon again this year. She said: “Petra does play an attacking game. She is very forceful from the base line of course, and when there is an opportunity to come to the net she comes to the net more than Maria Sharapova or even Serena Williams.

“Petra should feel great about being the defending champion at Wimbledon this year. It gives you a little extra power and confidence when you are the defending champion. It is a good kind of pressure that you feel there because Wimbledon makes you feel more like a defending champion than any other tournament. That is how I felt and it really makes you feel good about yourself. So that should help.

“I would still like to see her more aggressive. For Petra it is always a matter of missing or making the shots. If she makes them she could on a given day beat anybody. She is a great talent and she wants it badly and she has got a great head on her shoulders and I think the sky is the limit.”

Kvitova says in her interview: “Wimbledon is always something special for me and I think it is because of the grass, playing in the white clothes and you feel the history when you are on Centre Court. It is something special and I always feel it. After Wimbledon last year, I was very big in the Czech Republic and I was not prepared for it and a lot of people recognised me in the street. It was very strange for me, but I think that it is a good part of the tennis life.”

Can she win Wimbledon again? Kvitova said: “I think it is very tough to say that I believe I can win Wimbledon. I have a good game, but I think that a lot of players can also play very well on the grass, so it is not easy to say. I hope that I win. Of course I would like to be a winner again, but it is not easy.”

She says she rates Martina Navratilova as the greatest modern women’s tennis player. “I try to play fast and aggressive like her and she had a great serve, so I am trying to have a good serve too. She played very aggressively on the grass, serve-volley. I know that it is maybe the key to playing on grass.”

__________________

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Btw,in case you hadn't heard already,'love handles' usually refers to oversized hips.The term is used more often with reference to women,for whatever reasons....Frankly,though,I feel that Petra is beautiful in her own way regardless of whether she fits the popular prototype.....There are a couple glamour queens on the Tour who,once you get beyond the outward,lovely surface and find out what kind of PEOPLE they are,almost make you wanna puke

I feel that Petra is beautiful in her own way regardless of whether she fits the popular prototype.....There are a couple glamour queens on the Tour who,once you get beyond the outward,lovely surface and find out what kind of PEOPLE they are,almost make you wanna puke

I agree. Thats why I like her very much. You can see the kind of person she is on and off the court. She doesn't hide behind PR talking, she is natural and herself. And I hate very much when people make fun of her belly... or like someone in GM said that she is gonna be a disaster in Alexander McQueen... I meant Petra is so loveable!

No and . .not really. The term refers to the lower abdomen/lower/back/waist area not the hips. (Pinch more than an inch) And it's often used for men too.

And . htf did that topic get brought up in this thread?

The hips are located on the side of the waist area,so it's not as if I was miles apart in distance,Einsteinbut I'll admit that I may have misspoken since I don't use your American idioms as frequently now that I'm back home.However,it's DEFINITELY used more by women cuz I recall that distinctly from my time in the States.I put the response BRIEFLY here b/c I didn't wanna honor the manure thread you created to chat with trolls about Petra,and why do you care if I made a quick mention of it above?There's plenty of downright nasty stuff about Petra at TF,so my comments shouldn't have driven you into therapy or anything .....I'm headed off to work now...

EDIT: To other Petra fans----Was just having a little fun at someone's expense earlier cuz sometimes it's amusing to mess with slavish,ideological drones such as militant feminists and Jehovah's Witnesses...intellectual equals,in most all cases.However,I promised to avoid the heavily inflammatory stuff so,upon reflection,much of the original post was modified.

Still,I'd call it common sense to NOT start aimless threads that could VERY easily be discussed within the regular places that deal with Petra's performance....it's pointless clutter to create threads right here for ordinary questions...that's what babbling GM is for,quite apparently.It's especially foolish when the title refers to her as 'Kvitova' and not 'Petra' as that creates the impression that the OP is not a fan and is inviting hostile,negative comments...may as well have a neon sign that flashes "Trolls welcome to bash Petra here".On a final note,we should be vigilant,IMO,in case garbage threads about Petra,that are spawned in GM,get errantly moved here under the idiotic excuse that they belong in the player forum.I haven't seen that happening here yet but it HAS happened elsewhere so it's certainly not impossible

Czech star Petra Kvitova says it was advice from her role model (tennis legend Martina Navratilova) that helped her to win Wimbledon last year.

Speaking in an interview with Laureus.com just days before this year’s Wimbledon, Kvitova said of Navratilova: “She is a very nice person to me and I had a good chat with her at Wimbledon. She had some advice for me. She has a lot of experience in her career and she is very smart.”

When asked what Navratilova had said to her, Kvitova just smiled and said: “It’s a secret. I’m not going to tell anyone.”

And Laureus World Sports Academy Member Martina Navratilova is keeping the secret too. Asked if she had given Kvitova advice about her tennis and how to win Wimbledon, she said: “Sure, sure, I came to her before the final and said a few things. I think coming from somebody that has been there makes a big difference. You can talk all you want about psychology, but if you have not felt it yourself, how do you really know what is going on?”

Martina, also originally from the Czech Republic, was asked if she felt Kvitova could win Wimbledon again this year. She said: “Petra does play an attacking game. She is very forceful from the base line of course, and when there is an opportunity to come to the net she comes to the net more than Maria Sharapova or even Serena Williams.

“Petra should feel great about being the defending champion at Wimbledon this year. It gives you a little extra power and confidence when you are the defending champion. It is a good kind of pressure that you feel there because Wimbledon makes you feel more like a defending champion than any other tournament. That is how I felt and it really makes you feel good about yourself. So that should help.

“I would still like to see her more aggressive. For Petra it is always a matter of missing or making the shots. If she makes them she could on a given day beat anybody. She is a great talent and she wants it badly and she has got a great head on her shoulders and I think the sky is the limit.”

Kvitova says in her interview: “Wimbledon is always something special for me and I think it is because of the grass, playing in the white clothes and you feel the history when you are on Centre Court. It is something special and I always feel it. After Wimbledon last year, I was very big in the Czech Republic and I was not prepared for it and a lot of people recognised me in the street. It was very strange for me, but I think that it is a good part of the tennis life.”

Can she win Wimbledon again? Kvitova said: “I think it is very tough to say that I believe I can win Wimbledon. I have a good game, but I think that a lot of players can also play very well on the grass, so it is not easy to say. I hope that I win. Of course I would like to be a winner again, but it is not easy.”

She says she rates Martina Navratilova as the greatest modern women’s tennis player. “I try to play fast and aggressive like her and she had a great serve, so I am trying to have a good serve too. She played very aggressively on the grass, serve-volley. I know that it is maybe the key to playing on grass.”

Old news (the secret advice part). And yes, Petra did mention what the advice was, if not all of it previously. I don't remember at the moment.

But I guess we'll hear a lot of these before/during the tournament.

Yeah, Petra talked about this/that last year. The problem is, despite Martina's encouragement since and up until the present, Petra won't talk to Martina (probably until the next time she sees her again at Wimby).

Petra hasn't figured out yet, that she can actually talk to Martina about life, tennis, her mental aspect/approach, and general advice during the tennis season. It doesn't have to be outright training, game preparation, like she's Kvitty's coach (though I'm sure, Martina could even be an official member of Team Petra in some capacity, but Petra's probably to polite, uninterested at the moment, and structured to even hint to such a possibility).

The irony of the article of course is, if the advice helped so much then, why wouldn't you call Martina more often now, and during and in preparation for majors (which would seem like an appropriate time for Petra to call, text or e-mail her)? Navratilova says Petra hasn't, despite her inducements.

Martina wants to be like Petra's big sister/mentor (which I am ALL FOR myself). And she's basically been soliciting Petra the past year (with class of course) to help life coach her, give advice/tips, insight, anything it seems.

Despite Petra's reluctance to respond so far, I hope Martina doesn't give up asking or throwing out feelers to Petra, and keeps reaching out to her.

When is Kvitty going to realize, that she's a top player/a somebody to, and stop acting like some dumb hick, thats just happy to be there. Contact the women sometimes Petra!!!

Old news (the secret advice part). And yes, Petra did mention what the advice was, if not all of it previously. I don't remember at the moment.

But I guess we'll hear a lot of these before/during the tournament.

Yeah, Petra talked about this/that last year. The problem is, despite Martina's encouragement since and up until the present, Petra won't talk to Martina (probably until the next time she sees her again at Wimby).

Petra hasn't figured out yet, that she can actually talk to Martina about life, tennis, her mental aspect/approach, and general advice during the tennis season. It doesn't have to be outright training, game preparation, like she's Kvitty's coach (though I'm sure, Martina could even be an official member of Team Petra in some capacity, but Petra's probably to polite, uninterested at the moment, and structured to even hint to such a possibility).

The irony of the article of course is, if the advice helped so much then, why wouldn't you call Martina more often now, and during and in preparation for majors (which would seem like an appropriate time for Petra to call, text or e-mail her)? Navratilova says Petra hasn't, despite her inducements.

Martina wants to be like Petra's big sister/mentor (which I am ALL FOR myself). And she's basically been soliciting Petra the past year (with class of course) to help life coach her, give advice/tips, insight, anything it seems.

Despite Petra's reluctance to respond so far, I hope Martina doesn't give up asking or throwing out feelers to Petra, and keeps reaching out to her.

When is Kvitty going to realize, that she's a top player/a somebody to, and stop acting like some dumb hick, thats just happy to be there. Contact the women sometimes Petra!!!